By Brennan Stebbins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
After finishing with a 4-23 record last spring, Neosho’s baseball program is ready to turn the page and there’s a new face at the helm this season.
Bo Helsel, who spent six years as an assistant at Neosho, is the team’s new head coach. He replaces Danny Powers, who spent six years with the Wildcats and went into administration after last season.
“We struggled clearly,” Helsel said of last season. “Playing in the COC is tough as everyone knows. We lost a couple good players in Wyatt Keplar and Brett Slavens who are both playing in college now but our sophomore class was huge and we have a lot of really good athletes in that class. Now they’re juniors and so this year is looking really promising.”
That class of sophomores from last year went from playing 8th grade baseball to varsity action in the Central Ozark Conference thanks to the canceled season in 2020. The Wildcats struggled to throw strikes and struggled to put the ball in play.
The Wildcats will rely on three seniors this spring: Reese Miller, who will start in the outfield and pitch; Carson Williams, who will play second base; and Matt Velasco, who will play in the outfield. Miller played in 16 games and scored seven runs while adding two innings pitched on the mound. He’s dropped down to a sidearm pitcher this year. Williams could be one of the better defensive second basemen in the conference, in Helsel’s opinion, and he appeared in 11 games last year with five runs scored. He pitched an inning and a third.
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The team’s junior class is “pretty stacked,” Helsel said. It includes River Brill, the team’s starting shortstop who is “really good” defensively and will likely hit leadoff. He’s a left-handed batter who posted a .268 average and a .400 on-base percentage as a sophomore while drawing 14 walks. He led the team with 23 runs and he had four doubles and eight driven in.
Wyatt Shadwick will play in the outfield and hit in the heart of the lineup. He’s a “big, strong kid” who drove in five and scored three runs and he had three doubles and a triple. Austin Rodriquez, who the team calls “A-Rod,” will play in the outfield and pitch. He appeared in six games and pitched three innings as a sophomore.
Carter Fenske will take on a utility role in the field and could be the team’s pitching ace. He threw 29 innings as a sophomore with four starts and struck out 33 with an ERA of 6.52.
“Really good command of his stuff,” Helsel said. “He throws three pitches really well.”
Kael Smith is another utility guy who could see time in the outfield. He played in 10 games last year and also pitched a handful of innings. And Eli Zar looks to be the team’s catcher. He played in 27 games and batted .288 with a .354 OBP, drove in 12 runs and earned seven walks. Carter Baslee is a “big, strong kid” who plays on the line in football and should see time at first base and on the mound. And Coty Dumond has moved to Neosho from McDonald County and could play in the infield and outfield.
Beyond that junior class, Quenton Hughes is a sophomore who started at quarterback for the football team and should get a lot of playing time at an infield spot like third base. Helsel also expects him to be one of the team’s better pitchers.
“The leadership we have on the team is going to be a strength this year,” Helsel said. “I also think we’re going to hit for a high average and we’re going to throw strikes because that’s been our focus. That’s what we struggled to do last year but the guys have been really committed.”
The team has utilized a multi-million dollar indoor facility that features 50 yards of turf and a mezzanine with two huge batting cages.
“We’re going to be really prepared for this upcoming season,” Helsel said.
Neosho will travel to Seneca on March 12 for a jamboree with the Indians and Nevada Tigers. The team opens the season with home games against Carl Junction and Monett on March 19. Neosho has also added its own tournament this year, the Roy B. Shaver Baseball Classic slated for March 24-26. Reeds Spring, Parkview, Glendale, Diamond and Strafford will all be participating.
The Wildcats will also travel to Commerce, Oklahoma for the Mickey Mantle Classic, to Lebanon for the Paul Dudley Memorial Wood Bat Tournament, and to West Plains for a doubleheader against the Zizzers and Poplar Bluff.
“I’m just really excited,” Helsel said. “We have a small senior class and a massive junior class. I know our freshmen are huge, too, and we have 17 or 18 that can play at that level. The future is really bright out here with this facility and a year-old turf field and new coaching staff.”
